Multiplex Madness
Moana 2
⭐️⭐️
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Musical, Comedy
Director: David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, Dana Ledoux Miller
Starring: Alui'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Hualālai Chung, Rose Matafeo, David Fane, Awhimai Fraser, Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, Gerald Ramsey, Alan Tudyk
I love Moana. It's not only one of the best film's in Disney's lengthy animation history, it's one of the best films since the turn of the century. It's a beautiful story of ambition and self-discovery, with probably the best music Lin-Manuel Miranda has ever offered his audience. I actually didn't know a sequel was being made until the trailer dropped, which surprised me, because I would have thought I'd have been on top of that. It turned out there was a good reason for that, because Moana 2 started out as a Disney+ miniseries as part of Disney's big streaming push under Bob Chapek before he was ousted from the studio. The series was reworked into a theatrical sequel instead.
I had concerns. The rhythm of TV is different than a feature film, and reformatting rarely finds an adjustment to that. Add that in to the fact that Disney's wave of franchising out their popular animated productions has yet to provide a quality sequel. Ralph Breaks the Internet had its moments, while Frozen II was a vanilla bore. There has been nothing offered that has been nearly as inspired as 1990's The Rescuers Down Under, but that movie didn't make nearly as much money as the others, so that might just be a "me thing." Meanwhile, Disney's animation has been in a mini slump since Encanto, with clunky films like Strange World and Wish underperforming with both critics and audiences (I liked Wish more than most, though). Sure enough, Moana 2 lives up to most of my hesitancy, as its plot feels episodic enough that you can pick where each episode was supposed to end, while it offers no return to form for the mainstay animation studio, even though its animation is just as stunning as ever. The unfortunate truth that hangs over Moana 2's head is that it's wasn't put into production wanting to live up to the first film, created to be consumed content rather than a meaningful continuation. But the people who were making that content at the very least respected the first film, which makes it go down easier.
As suggested by the title, Moana is back. This time she is tasked by her ancestors to restore the mythical island of Motufetu, which connected many lands across the sea. This time she's not alone, not only reteaming with demigod Maui, but she puts up her own team of islanders to follow her on her mission to Motufetu. All of these characters offer little other than quirky comic relief, displaying personality traits without much character, like the Autobots in a Michael Bay Transformers movie. They offer very little to Moana on her journey, except to jabber at her with their distinctive tone. The movie threatens to be a string of constant comic relief, which becomes a problem to the movie's vibe. Even if one is ignorant to the complicated history of this film, it's very apparent that the sequel doesn't have the same spirit as the first film, leaning more heavily into slapstick comedy over soul-searching adventure. Adventure and soul-searching are still present, but their blood has been drained until they're pale in the face. The movie doesn't really mean much of anything to Moana that she didn't already go through in the first film, except maybe what appears to be a story of Moana becoming an inspirational leader to her crew. The problem is that the movie never really leans into this. Her crew all like her, respect her, and want to do right by her since the beginning of the film and there is really nowhere to go from there. When you have a movie that has a theme on the tip of its tongue that it can't express, it becomes about little to nothing. Instead, the movie just becomes more Moana, more Maui, more Heihei, and hey, Pua is here this time, too. It just reminds us that we love these characters. I didn't exactly need that reminder and would have preferred seeing them on a quest that was meaningful, but I did enjoy seeing them again, I'll admit. And I will also admit that I am curious about what the climax means for Moana's future, though I would hope a potential third film has more inspiration fueling it.
Moana 2 could have and should have been better than this. It could have kept the same story, but had done a complete script rehaul and featured more polished musical numbers, offering at least one song that can live up to "Away, Away," "You're Welcome," and the Oscar-winning "How Far I'll Go." It's so easy to picture this movie working, and yet it instead floats in the ocean. The best thing I can say is that the first Moana is still a meaninful story about a very special character. An underwhelming sequel isn't going to change that.
Netflix & Chill
Dear Santa
⭐️⭐️
Streaming On: Paramount+
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Director: Bobby Farrelly
Starring: Jack Black, Robert Timothy Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, Brianne Howey, Hayes MacArthur, Austin Post, P.J. Byrne
I probably wouldn't have gone out of my way to watch this movie, but I have a kinda pretty funny story related to it and it piqued my curiosity because of it. Last year, I did one of those focus study things where someone test screens a trailer for you and you respond to a series of unspecific questions that help the studios know what the audience is thinking. I've done these before, watching trailers to the likes of Blockers, Fast X, and Aquaman 2. This specific time made me raise an eyebrow though, because of the line of questioning I was given after the trailer played. The trailer in question: Dear Santa. I watched the trailer, had a very neutral opinion of it, but the questions seemed less concerned about what I thought of the trailer and instead wanted to know what I thought of the title. Honestly, the title sucks. It's a very base title that tells you nothing about this movie, which sees a boy writing a letter to Santa Claus only to misspell "Santa" and accidentally summon Satan, played by Jack Black. They gave me a series of titles to wade through, and they were all collectively awful (the worst one simply titled the movie "The Mix-Up," which is just...woof). Anyway, time passed, the holiday season came and went, and the movie didn't come out. I had mentioned this in passing on social media, only for my post to come to the attention of Ricky Blitt, the screenwriter of this movie. We had a fun back and forth about it, and it was very informative. Initially, he titled this script "Dear Satan," but Paramount got cold feet and didn't want to make a Christmas movie with "Satan" in the title because they thought it would turn off families. The idea is absurd, because it's the premise of the entire movie. You might as well just lean it and let the cards fall where they may. I suppose they were so concerned about this that they shelved it for a year, and finally just dumped it on streaming with little fanfare. What a wild ride for this movie that has lived in the back of my head for over a year.
The film itself is just high-concept silliness. Nothing to get excited about nor worked-up over. Jack Black is pretty solid in this movie, with special props to the costume and make-up departments for making him look like a Santa straight from Hell. But at the same time, I suppose I can see why the movie was just tossed onto streaming. It's a funny idea, but it's a quaint script that likely insists on more style than it's given. The film is directed by Bobby Farrelly of Farrelly Brothers fame, which is certainly one way to approach this movie. I kinda want to see a version of this movie with a little bit of a fiendish flair to it, like a Sam Raimi would provide. It would probably up the budget a tad, but the light naughty Christmas theme would genuinely excell with some darker tones. Instead, it's just directed like a slightly naughty holiday offering. As is, the movie coasts on the shoulders of Jack Black and a couple of character actors to elevate the material. Occasionally, they get a solid chuckle, but if one is hoping for more than a chuckle, the movie is likely a miss. Unfortunately, I can't say this is a hidden holiday gem that the studio fumbled.
However, Ricky Blitt is a super nice guy. Ten outta ten. Would shoot the shit with again.
Wicked Part I ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
New To Streaming
Conclave ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Elevation ⭐️⭐️
Here ⭐️⭐️
Terrifier 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
We Live in Time ⭐️⭐️1/2
New To Physical
Hush ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Coming Soon!
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